I have a bunch of failures and thought it was just me. Boofer, cheese demigod, could not possibly have made the type of mistakes I have made.

"Cheese Demigod" Yeah, that's the perfect way to describe Boofer! I like it. I had been thinking "Cheese Ambassador" because of his unfailing graciousness and encouraging kindness but I think the demigod concept fits!! . Tha avatar he's chosen certainly fits that too!

This is a great thread. How about this weirdness; I mixed curds from two different pots of cheese (normally I don't use two different pots at once but strange things happen). A month later, I decided to check on the inside of the wheel. Cut it open and found there were translucent chunks scattered throughout. I asked someone at Dairy Connection and she said it was because each of the pots of curds had different pHs. There was a leaching effect when the two were mixed. Lesson: don't use two pots.

Well, this is certainly a thread I can contribute to, not with pictures and most of it is already posted somewhere...First of all, when you're pre-draining curds for e.g. Valencay and trying to make a knot in the cheesecloth, don't let part of the cloth slip. No, I didn't make pictures of a bathroom floor covered with curd...An other failure was this batch of Brie: http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,9636.msg70345.html#msg70345. Had to throw it away because of the smell....Again thinking about the subject, I realize I had more mistakes than real failures. I made a Reblonbert because I used too much PC Neige and the BL didn't do it's job, but it turned into a nice cheese http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,9671.msg70759.html#msg70759.When I tried Fourme d'Ambert, it was all but a FdA, but it was an appreciated blue...http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,9539.msg69222.html#msg69222And remember to check notes on previous batches, I once had to cut the Reblochons I made horizontally in two, because I used the same moulds as the batch before, but with twice as much milk. But again good tasting cheese...

Elsewhere, there's a thread of two of my failures. Cheeses that contain flaws making them unsuitable for commercial sale. Also somewhere deep down in the caves, there are a couple of wheels with considerably large surface flaws due to a lag before I got them pressed (oops!)

Once I took too long to get the cheese up to temperature, that's not good. One time I had one of my forms break (these are adjustable forms with wooden blocks holding a string for adjustment. The block broke off while I was adjusting the form size)

I guess failure in this instance depends on your goals. If my goal is to make cheese that tastes good for personal use, then I guess I've got a perfect record (I have never thrown out a cheese). If your goal is to produce cheeses that meet a high standard for commercial sale, then I have plenty of failures and will continue to have failures.

How about letting a rind get out of hand because you don't know what you are doing with a washed rind?

I had something growing under the rind and making a blister (also smelled meaty), so turned it into this after I washed the rind under the tap. Now it needs to be vac bagged because of the rind being compromised.

How about putting a cheese in the oven to keep it warmer than your cold house...and forgetting the oven light is on...and the temp can go above 90 degrees with just the light as a heat source?

Finally, there was the great Cambozola debacle of 2012. This will go down in the annals of cheese making as both the greatest, and the dumbest idea in history. Seems that a single piece of curd 8" in diameter and 7.5" high does NOT have the structural integrity to support itself, even in a mold. LOL WHATEVER you do NEVER stick the mold in the pot of curd and try to turn it out over the sink in one piece. It doesn't work!!! LOL Sorry but we didn't get any shots of the two gallons of curd on the floor and sink. LOL

My worst so far has just happened. Spent the afternoon making a blue, the sort where you drain the curd for a while, then tie it in a bundle and press it overnight. I decided to use two 2l milk containers (now filled with whey) as my weights. Didn't want the lot to come tumbling down so for safety's sake (ha!) put in one side of our double kitchen sink - a baking dish/the cheese bundle/a cutting board/ two milk containers balanced delicately on top. Didn't think I needed to explain all of this to my husband. Who took the dirty dishes to the kitchen, took the milk containers and the board off (I wonder what he thought the bundle was? I wonder why he thought I'd put two full milk containers on top of this arrangement?) and proceeded to rinse the dishes onto the bundle. Yes folks, I've never before had to ditch a cheese at such an early stage. Maybe by tomorrow I will manage to be civil again. It was raw goat milk too, which I'd driven a round trip of 50km to get. I read once that gardening taught you acceptance of whatever nature throws at you; I think cheesemaking is in the same league. Margaret

Oh, Margaret! That is SO awful!! . . . . I am VERY sorry to hear of your loss. And to have driven so far to get the milk and everything. Waaaah! If you've been uncivil enough perhaps he'll ask you the next time there's something strange in the sink. I put "do not touch" signs on things sometimes but not always and have had some oops moments but never something as painful as yours. My condolences.